Page 30 of House of Mages and Raven

Queen Lilith turned her head, noticing her fiancé’s swift attention to me, her green gaze piercing me like a wintery blade. Her power of the Underworld lashed out, heading straight to me, ready to sever the connection between the prince and me.

Killian moved, but the queen wheeled just as fast as him and placed herself between him and me before he could block her, her unholy power making its way toward me like an unstoppable wind. Gasps rose in the hall as everyone felt its potency, even though they weren’t even the target. The students groaned and rubbed their arms as if their muscles and bones hurt. Grace looked in my direction, a smirk on her full lips, as she waited for me to squirm.

I put my chin on the heel of my palm to appear indifferent while simultaneously erecting a solid shield in front of Bea. I allowed the power of the Underworld to hit my chest, right in the center, just to show her that I could take her bitch power with my tits up.

Tits up!Sy cheered.

Yet I flinched inwardly at the terrible weight of her power crashing into me like a loaded bus. My knees buckled; it wasa good thing I’d sat down. With Sy’s selfless assistance, I soon recovered and straightened.

The demon queen quirked a brow, appearing cool, and I smirked coldly, daring her to toss her signature hellfire at me. I would then show her that my darkest flame was hotter and more lethal than her hellfire. I wasn’t feeling rational at the moment.

“Come, beloved,” Killian said to her, spinning the queen toward him and escorting her to the stairs that led to the heirs’ table and thrones.

The blood drained from my face. A new wave of pain knifed my middle at his endearment. Sy still urged me to attack and take Killian for myself.

Why would I want to fight for a male who doesn’t want me?I snarled.Fuck off, Sy.

She clamped her mouth shut, as she’d never seen me like this, and this pain was mine alone. Sy couldn’t take my emotional pain into her.

Queen Lilith lifted her radiant face toward the chaos prince, her eyes brimming with satisfaction, her attention diverting from me. I no longer mattered. The royal couple fell into an easy chat, and everyone moved out of their path, gazing upon them in awe. The prince’s and the queen’s entourage and guards parked themselves at the foot of the stairs as their masters continued up toward their table on the second-floor balcony.

Killian’s final answer to whom he belonged to slammed into my face again. While I felt numb, cold, drained, and empty, Sy raged on, her mouth foaming.

“You okay, Barbie?” Bea put her hand on my shoulder in support. “You look pale. How about I go get you five burgers and three banana milkshakes?”

I nodded my thanks, not able to utter a word.

Bea darted me another concerned look. “I’ll be right back,” she assured me, and left our lonely table.

I slumped deeper into my seat, trying not to hug myself, as I didn’t want to give my enemies the satisfaction. Yet from across the space, I could feel Grace’s smug gaze pinning me down.

From my vintage point, I could catch glimpses of part of the balcony. The chaos prince and his intended lounged on the comfortable chairs half circling a golden table adorned with runes. I wondered if he would recognize the magical handprint I’d left on the center of the table when the other princes forced me to dance for them. It hadn’t been that long ago, and the chaos prince had wanted me with such a smoldering need. Now even the echo of his vanished passion hurt my chest.

Queen Lilith leaned toward Killian, whispering something to him. He nodded, yet I could feel the tension in his shoulders. He never spared me another look. Just then, Grace sauntered toward the stairs, and the guards bowed and let her pass. She bounced up and joined the royal couple. She gave Killian a sultry smile, as if asking permission to sit on his lap. She settled in by perching on the chair on his other side. Her entire body turned to him as she chirped like a happy bird and gazed up at him through her thick lashes that looked like mine. Queen Lilith spared her ward and her boyfriend an indulgent look, and a faint smile ghosted his lips at something Grace said.

They’d said he was colder than ice. They’d said he didn’t smile. That had changed when I came into his life. I’d thought I was special to him, that I could make him laugh, but now his smile that no longer reversed for me extended to my doppelgänger.

A foolish part of me still hoped that he would show me that our past meant something and I wasn’t dirt to him. But that hope slipped from my fingers faster than sand from an hourglass, as he was obviously enjoying his two women.

The new reality sank its claws into my bones. The chaos prince had fucked me. And now he’d gotten me out of his system and moved on.

We’re being replaced, Barbie,Sy said quietly and bitterly.Men are flighty. Now I’m not sure if I can trust my sugar Rowan either.

My world crumbled further as I watched Grace lay her hand on Killian’s muscled forearm, and he let her. I was no longer the only other woman who could touch the forbidden fruit. My doppelgänger could touch him just fine without being burned.

During the potion class, Bea had tried to calm me down by saying that Grace had been lying about the chaos prince’s affection for her. Now I’d seen it with my own eyes, and that nailed the coffin all the way sealed.

Even Sy stopped pushing me to take back the chaos heir, though she raged within me and helplessly tried to mend my cracked heart.

The chaos prince stole a glance my way, as if he couldn’t help it, before he looked away. A muscle twitched in his jaw before his expression darkened and hardened. He must’ve seen the spitting fire and utter disdain smoldering in my eyes.

The queen leaned in to kiss him, but somehow, he turned his face before her lips found a purchase on his, and her mouth ended up alighting on his jaw.

He didn’t look in my direction again, as if I no longer existed.

My heart bled, as I knew it in my bones that we were done through and through.

Sy offered her strength to support me.He isn’t the only dick in the ocean, and his dick isn’t even that big.

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